Manchester Move - our journey to date. Locata Conference - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Manchester Move - our journey to date. Locata Conference Manchester May 20 th 2016

Manchester Move Partnership

Manchester Move Partnership  16 Partners + MCC and ALMO.  63,500 properties  20,000+ applications a year  3,000+ lettings a year  All in one Local Authority area.  Manchester Move is a brand.

Governance Structure  Housing Access Board of 10 Partners + MCC and ALMO – meets 4 times a year. This board reports to the Manchester Housing Providers Partnership. - responsible for budgets, strategy, development - Housing Access is so much more than CBL.  Practitioners Group – meets 6 times a year with sub groups when necessary on single issues often around policy and practise.

Current climate:  Demand is high across most property types in Manchester – increasingly number of applications and lower turnover.  There is an increasing population and an increasing homelessness crisis – against a backdrop of continuing LA cuts and rent reductions for RPs but with the opportunities that being at the heart of devolution may bring.  LHA changes – esp around 1 beds will bring some challenges to all Partners.  Housing and Planning Act 2016 will do the same!

From Homefinder to Manchester Move…  Manchester introduced CBL in early 2000’s however Homefinder became outdated by 2007/08.  Needed to move with the times and update all systems – digital first and automation along with easy use and access for applicants and partners were central to redesign.  Locata were chosen as Partner in 2011 after robust tendering process.

 Was a challenging build as was very ambitious!  But serves us well now so worth the pain before phase 1 implementation in Jan 2013.

Best bits:  Intuitive online form.  Same for change of circumstances.  Automated review process.  Multiple policies.  Shared Rehousing Review List.  Flexible bidding patterns.

Digital First.  No paper form.  Paperless system – scanning.  Easy to share information across Partners.  Telephone back up for those not online or more vulnerable.  Extensive use of Targeted Housing Options to share information with applicants.

Reporting  Set up a data warehouse to which Sector feed in data every night. This helps us develop our own reporting structure tailored to what we need.  Use this alongside reports on Locata itself.  Together we get a comprehensive set of reports that we can provide for all Partners very easily. Partners can see there own performance alongside a full Manchester Picture.  This is then used alongside other data that LA holds re supply, demand, affordability across all tenures to aid strategic decision making in the City.

The MM Partnership is about more than the IT…

What makes us unique:  One application gives an applicant access to the majority of social and affordable housing in Manchester.  About half of transfers are across partners.  The Partnership has a shared database of all tenants who may have breached a tenancy in the past.  Applications are shared across all Partners so there is an ownership on awarding priority consistently which aids communication between us all.  Small central team that deals with eligibility issues (PFA etc) and medical cases.  Strong Serious Offenders process that can lead to tenancies with extra conditions or compliance. – strong Partnership working.  Service development team of 2 that work on IT improvements, assurance, training and reporting.

Future improvements  Online Form changes – never get it perfect first time!  Mobile responsiveness – to work on any mobile device – we know that over 50% of applicants are accessing the system in that way.  Possibility for apps for bidding – although MR may give us enough.  Non verification of lower band applicants - currently 40% of the register is in RP and 83% of lets go to these bands.

Other Partnerships:  Manchester Move works alongside First Stop and the CCGs in Manchester to provide a bespoke housing options service for older people.  Manchester Move is about to integrate a specialist Accessible Homes Team into the Service to ensure that we all make the best use of our adapted stock and can case manage complex cases.  Having the right IT to manage all these areas of work is critical.

Future Partnership work  What opportunities will devolution bring? GM housing providers are in the process of signing off a joint Memorandum of Understanding.  How do we continue to work together closely in Manchester/ Greater Manchester in ever more challenging financial and social climates for the benefit of those who need social housing but for those who are also wanting to explore other tenures?  We must continue to use and develop our IT platform to do that – more tenures, more options, more information – how do we push more information out to ensure peo ple can make informed decisions about where they live.

 Access to Housing is at the heart of all the work that we do – we need to ensure that we have the tools and systems to help us be efficient and effective while ensuring that all we do is to improve the service and information to our current and future customers.

 Any Questions ?